


Underfell One-Shot - 'Sunbeam'

by CrescentMoogle



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Drabbles, F/M, Fluff, Sans is nicer than usual, Sans vaguely remembers resets, Underfell, Writing Warmup, pair met in a previous timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-08 23:15:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19877674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrescentMoogle/pseuds/CrescentMoogle
Summary: This is a warm-up piece I did to get the idea out of my head before I did the real writing. Enjoy, I guess :)





	Underfell One-Shot - 'Sunbeam'

**Author's Note:**

> Amelia is probably Vespa/Amy from LRR? Set in a different or later timeline. It felt natural to write her in, since clearly these two were close in a previous lifetime.

He didn’t make a habit of giving humans a second glance. They all looked the same (yeah, yeah, so what if he’s racist), and despite the saying that human souls were all the colours of the rainbow, they were always dirty and dull, marred by detachment and cruelty.

Not this one.

This one _glowed_.

She was projecting fierce orange light. Like her soul was on fire. Like seeing his first sunrise all over again. He felt a wave of recognition and relief, as if discovering something that had been lost to him for a long time.

He almost slipped on the rain-slicked pavement as she half blinded his magic-sensitive vision.

Her expression was hard, focused on the far end of the street, jaw set, and fast-walking at a pace that would rival Papyrus. Her cheeks were damp, but not from the rain. As she got closer, her resolute gaze faltered for a moment when she saw him, and the facade dropped in the flicker of a genuine smile, just for him.

He was run through with a hot iron by that smile.

He didn’t even like humans.

Her smile was shattered before he could return it, though, as a shrill voice called from the street corner she had just come from.

“Hey!”

Another human rounded the corner, tears streaking her dark makeup and the glint of metal in her closed fist. Red soul, like blood. His chest clenched at a stirred memory.

“Don’t walk away from me!” The pursuer barked. The first human’s expression hardened, and her lips pursed in a line. She didn’t answer, walked a little faster.

Just as the first woman drew level with him on the street, the second gave up chasing and planted her feet. She launched the metal object straight at the orange-soul’s head with some force. He growled involuntarily at the threat. His magic reacted instantly in a bolt of red light, ripping the item from the air before it could hit its mark.

The keyring was pinned to the wall beside the pavement by a sharpened bone. The keys jangled against the stone.

Silence, aside from the rain. Both humans froze in place, and he immediately wondered why he had done that. The orange-soul stared at him. Her green eyes locked with his red ones.

She cut her gaze over to the keys, then to the other human, then she let out a huff and started off again down the street, this time breaking into a run, quickly making it to the next intersection and disappearing around the corner.

“Screw you then!” The red-soul yelled after her, throwing a dirty look at Sans. She turned tail back the way she had come.

The keys were left hanging on the bone-skewer.

What.

What was he supposed to do?

He turned, disintegrated the bone and caught the keys. Turned them over in his palm. He mentally flipped a coin - follow or forget about it?

Who was he trying to kid? He’d already made his decision.

He followed the direction she’d gone, walking quicker than he normally would. Skipped a few meters of pavement. Shortcut around the corner. He couldn’t see her.

 _Shit_ , he thought. He pocketed the keys and broke into a jog. He was tired after a long day before this incident began, but now his soul was alive with nervous energy.

When he made it to the next intersection with still no sign of her, he stopped, growling a sigh. This was stupid. He closed his eyes.

In the dark, he could sense a lot of souls nearby. In buildings all around him. Finding her was easy, though, like a well-travelled path. He locked on, and stepped through a shortcut, coming out around the corner from where he sensed her. A park. It might have been a nice place in the summer, but the paths and lawn had flooded, making it muddy and drab.

She was sitting on a bench, tucked into the corner and sheltered partially from the rain below an overhanging tree. She was curled up, sobbing.

This was stupid. Why had he followed her? She didn’t want a stranger - and a monster at that - coming after her. He couldn’t help her. Too late now, though.

She didn’t stir when he approached, either not hearing him or not caring to uncurl herself, so he sat, taking up the rest of the space on the bench. She was so _tiny_. Most humans were small compared to him, but she was like a mouse. He could hear her laboured breathing, muffled by her arms wrapped around her. She was shaking.

“Hey buddy,” He tried to say it quietly, almost a whisper. He knew the rough bass of his voice was intimidating. She hunched further, and hiccuped a broken sob.

“It’s gonna be alright.” _Nice one, Sans._ He kicked himself. She released another bout of sobs, breaths shuddering and short for a moment. Her knuckles were white, balled fists clutching the fabric of her t-shirt like a lifeline. Her soul was vacillating.

He found that he was angry on her behalf. He might be a selfish bastard sometimes, but he _knew_ what this felt like. It didn’t matter what her situation was, he had suffered through too many panic attacks alone not to do something.

He reached out his hand before he could second-guess himself, and carefully, so, so carefully, he put his arm around her shaking shoulders. Her clothes were soaked.

What was he doing? She didn’t want this. She didn’t know him, she was bound to be afraid of a beast like him, everyone else was, why the hell would he think this was a good idea? He should just get up and leave before she screamed at him and-

To his surprise, she let out a long, uneven sigh, and looked up at him. Her face was blotchy, her eyes red and sore, some of her hair stuck to her cheek, but she managed a tiny, strained smile.

“Th-thank you.” She whispered, voice breaking, holding her breath to try and stop the sobs.

He returned the smile, trying not to show too many teeth. He knew what he looked like to humans. He searched for what to say, feeling uncharacteristically awkward, shy even. 

She hadn’t pushed his hand away yet, and he could feel her entire being quivering with the effort of not falling back into panic. She took a deep breath.

“W-what’s your na-name?” She managed.

“Sans,” he replied as softly as he could, “Sans the Skeleton.”

She let out a breathy laugh that turned into a hiccup at the end. “S-sans? Like, sans serif?”

“Yup. I’m a Comic Sans _type_ of guy.” He winked, and grinned widely, forgetting himself. He realised his mistake too late, but she didn’t seem at all alarmed by his sharp teeth. She returned a big smile, wiping her face with her hands. She was adorable; definitely like a little mouse.

But a little mouse who didn’t fear the alley cat.

He finally managed to locate some of his usual courage. “What about you, sweetheart? Got a name?”

“It’s Amelia.” Strangely, he felt like he remembered the name at the same time she said it.

“Amelia... Huh. Feels _famelia_. Nice to meetcha.”

He let his arm stay on her shoulders, and it was comfortably quiet for a while, just the sound of the rain and the occasional sniffle. She didn’t push him away. She didn’t try to put distance between them. His soul began to relax for the first time in a while. She slowly uncurled from her position in the corner and let her legs slip over the edge of the bench. Her thigh accidentally bumped against his.

“Sans?”

“Hmm?”

“Why did you follow me?”

“Oh yeah. Uh,” he reached into his pocket for the keyring, “y’left these behind, I just thought - better than leaving ‘em in the street, I guess.”

“Oh. Right. Thanks.” She shrugged. “I suppose it’s better than _her_ having them.”

He didn’t ask what had happened - if he’d been through an argument, he wouldn’t even want to explain himself to his own brother, let alone some stranger. He handed the keys over. For a moment, her hand was in his, and her freezing fingers brushed his palm. He suppressed a shiver.

“You’re cold.” He stated obviously.

“It’s okay.”

“Nope.”

He let go of her long enough to shrug off his heavy black jacket, tucking it around her and returning his arm to rest on her shoulders again. She froze up for a moment, staring at him in surprise. He chuckled at the wide-eyed expression, swamped by the fabric. After a second she relaxed back into his hold, wrapping herself deeper into the fluffy jacket lining.

She looked _right_ like that, wrapped safely in his jacket. His soul fluttered. He pulled his gaze away and turned to look out over the flooded lawn so that she wouldn’t see the rush of magic creeping up his cheekbones.

Sans was not an idiot. Neither was he inexperienced in matters of the soul. He had had plenty of… liaisons with monsters over the years (and years, and years - resets included), and even some humans when monsterkind made it to the surface - not that he enjoyed that experience much once the novelty wore off. But he knew one thing for certain.

He was totally _boned_.

He’d never let himself become so captivated so quickly. Normally it was physical attraction, which he could deal with, but this? He’d not felt like this, not ever, as far as he could remember. It was terrifying, but he didn’t want to let go.

His hand clenched involuntarily around her shoulder, and she knocked her leg against his.

“You okay?”

“Fine, doll, just wonderin’,” he cleared his throat, “…why aren'tcha afraid of me?”

“Should I be?”

“Most people are. I mean, even if you were a monster, I’m a stranger. Y’got no reason to trust me.”

“I guess not, but you had no reason to help me out either.” She swung her legs. “It feels like. Okay, maybe that’s stupid? Hah, definitely stupid. Never mind.”

“Nah, it’s not stupid. Tell me?” He nudged her a little.

“It feels like… Like we-” She turtled into his jacket, hiding.

“Like we’ve met before?”

“Yes! Just like that.”

She looked up at him, and just _stared_. Intense, unerring, but tender. He leaned in at the same time she did, and they met gently, foreheads together, eyes closed. Her breath was warm on his cheekbone.

They stayed like that until the rain stopped, her in his jacket, and him with his arm around her, warmed by the light from her soul; a soul he was certain he had known before.

\---

Before it got dark, he walked her home. Not far to go, but they were both tired now, so they walked slowly, arms linked. She turned once they made it to her doorstep.

“See you around, Sans… and thank you - for finding me.”

She didn’t just mean today. He was certain then, that she remembered at least something.

She returned his jacket. He didn’t miss the fact that, as he shrugged it back on, the fur smelled of her beneath the scent of rainwater.

“Hey,” she called as she stepped into her house, “don’t forget to check your pockets.” She shut the door before he could respond.

He slipped his hands into the pockets. Keys. Her keys. The ones he had just given back to her. He gripped them tightly, a goofy smile blooming on his face.

“See you ‘round, sunbeam.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! C.M~
> 
> I now have a little place over on discord, where I post updates and artwork.  
> If you'd like to come hang out with people who enjoy Undertale and related fandoms, [come on over!](https://discord.gg/UYYpxCX)


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